To Blog or Not To Blog

You’d have to be living on a deserted island not to at least have heard the term “blog.” People have been talking about blogs for the last few years and it’s a form of communication that is not going away. People have used blogs to enhance careers – everyone from from script writing to celebrity to “in the know” experts in various and diverse fields uses them. You can use a blog to establish yourself, your company, your services, and your designs. Some blogs have even been turned into books! The potential is incredible because all you need is a computer, Internet access, and the time to devote to blogging.

What is a blog? Wikipedia defines a blog as a type of website or part of a website that is usually maintained by individuals with regular entries, or posts of commentary, reporting, video links, and photos. Blog can be used as a noun, but also as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. I will blog on my blog today, for example. Blogs often focus on a specific or particular subject and many are more like personal online diaries. Readers of the blog can leave comments and feedback. Blogs are constructed of words, images, music, audio, video and can even be constrained to very short posts called microblogging. V-log refers to blogs that are mainly videos posts.

It’s a good idea to outline what you want your blog to include and detail what you want to accomplish with a blog. Being organized from the start will make blogging so much easier in the long run. There are so many options from calendar of events to categories to slideshows that can be included on a blog. You need to ask yourself some questions. Are you selling a service? You need to explain that somewhere on the blog. Are you selling handmade hats? You need to visually show off your creations on this blog. Are you promoting books you’ve written or downloadable e-books or maybe even online classes? Remember this blog is a business tool, not just personal expression. You can always have a separate blog for more personal creative endeavours.

The first step is to select a site to host your blog. There are many to choose from and for basic blogging the service of hosting your blog is free. Check out sites like WordPress.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog.com, Tumblr.com, and do your own search with the keywords: free blog hosting. There is a blog hosting site that will meet your needs from just a basic simple once a week posting blog to a diverse blog with categories, live links, and more. Visit blogs hosted by a few of the different websites and then take the plunge and set up a blog.

You’ll need to name the blog. Think long term. A title like “Maria’s Blog” is simple, but not memorable. Visit blogs of creative people and take the time to note what you like, what got your attention, and how you can use the inspiration to create your own mark on the blogosphere. You want to use words that will pop up in search engines and also the words that your customers will be using to find handmade items or services. Be creative, your title should reflect your passion, but also be findable. A title like “A Touch of Handmade Creativity” is more searchable and also lets the reader know the blog deals with handmade. Have some visuals. Photos and images are eye-catching.
Once you’ve set up your blog it is time to promote it…